


Support

by nevereverever



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Acceptance, Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Nightmares, Post-Canon, platonic and romantic love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-22 04:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13755885
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nevereverever/pseuds/nevereverever
Summary: Tartarus sticks with them in unexpected ways. It stays, and it hurts, but they muddle through together.





	Support

**Author's Note:**

> Hey folks! This is high key me projecting my pain into Annabeth, and giving her lots of love. Pretty fluffy, and with more to come <3

Annabeth had so many scars. From the Labyrinth, the Battle of Manhattan, from every quest she had done. There were physical marks, cuts and slashes up and down her body. She liked them, in a weird kind of way. They were like her record of her growth as a hero.

Tartarus left them with scars they couldn’t see. 

Percy had memories, nightmares he couldn’t escape from. He would wake up unable to breathe because he felt the crushing weight of Nyx’s darkness on his chest, the feeling of the heart of Tartarus under his feet. He would wake up with his hand on his sword and Annabeth’s calm voice in his ears. He would wake up screaming and wouldn’t stop even when he saw he was home.

On those nights, Annabeth would curl up around him, and run soothing hands up and down his back. 

“I’m here. We’re safe Percy. We’re safe, I promise.” She would kiss his forehead and his back and his palms. We’re safe. I promise, I promise, I promise. Her promise didn’t mean they wouldn’t get hurt, just that they’d be there for each other when it all inevitably goes to shit.

For Annabeth, it was pain. Though her visible wounds had healed, the pain didn’t go away. She waited, a week, a month, a summer, praying that time would heal this wound as it had all of her others.

She couldn’t hide it from Percy. It was like he could read her mind. In the weeks after they defeated Gaea, he noticed she didn’t get better. She tried to smile as the Romans and Greeks reconciled, as she and Percy walked hand in hand through the strawberry fields, as she was welcomed home by the Athena cabin. 

She tried to smile when they went back to their normal life, but sometime her mask slipped.

He noticed her clenched teeth, her furrowed brow, the shine of the tears in her eyes. When he finally asked, she just fell to pieces. He wanted to get her help, but she didn’t want to be a new crisis. 

“I just want everyone to be happy,” she said through her tears. He wanted to tell her that she wasn’t happy, but he couldn’t get the words out. 

That night Percy held her a little too tight, but she didn’t complain. 

She talked to Will in hushed tones in the dark of the infirmary. He noticed a pattern, huge crashes after exertion, winces when she stretched, crying under Thalia’s Pine one too many times. He did all he could to help her and keep it quiet. He gave her painkillers when she needed them and tried healing spells when they had free time. She had taken to keeping a pill or two in her pocket, prepared as always.

But no medicine, magic or mortal, seemed to fix the deep aches and stinging pains that slowly became her normal. 

It took so much out of her, constantly keeping up the pretenses of being okay when it really felt like her bones were breaking as she walked. Trying to teach her campers combat when her biggest enemy was her own body. 

The day that she knew was coming eventually, when she’d have to tell more people than Percy and Will, or a few of her siblings, was a beautiful day, like most at Camp Half-Blood. Clear blue skies and a light breeze greeted her along with the pain that morning, and it made everything a little better. But as the day trudged on, her pain only seemed to increase, seeping out of her bones and into her joints, spreading like venom into her head. 

Suddenly the sunlight didn’t seem so friendly, the swordplay was a greater test of her ability to put on a happy face than her agility. It was barely lunch when she couldn’t take it anymore. 

The Athena Cabin was too far away for her shaking legs to walk, so she picked up her strength and just barely managed to stumble to the Poseidon cabin before collapsing in a heap on the ground. 

It felt like years of shivering and crying on the wooden floor before the silence was broken by Percy’s laugh, one of her favorite sounds. He closed the door, still chuckling about some joke she couldn’t even think about processing before he saw her. She heard him sigh, and it made her sob. His worried sigh was one of her least favorite sounds.

“Bad pain day?” Percy asked quietly. She nodded as much as she could without jostling her screaming head and neck. “Can I move you?” 

“No,” she said, her voice tearful. She hated being pitiful, almost as much as she knew Percy hated seeing her in pain. She was strong, a leader, a child of a goddess so why? Why couldn't she move?

“Okay, I’m going to grab you some water, some bed stuff, and some painkillers. Need anything else?” She shook her head. “Oh also a movie. I’m gonna get us a movie,” Percy dashed away to the infirmary to grab some medicine, leaving her alone again. With only her thoughts for company, she started to cry again. Her mantra on bad days was 'a small price to pay to save the world.' But alone, hurting so badly in the dark, it always felt a little larger. 

He got back with a bottle of pills, a napkin of ambrosia, and a water bottle half full of nectar. He quickly dragged a pillow and blankets from his bed, and assembled a nest around her. She smiled while he worked, if only to make him happy.

“When Harry Met Sally okay?” Percy asked with a little smile (he loved romcoms). Annabeth let out a soft hum of approval, which sort of morphed into a quiet whine of pain. She took a big breath in and pushed it out, trying to send the pain with her breath. A small price for all of these precious moments with him.

“I hate seeing you like this.” He ran his fingers through her hair. There was silence after that. She adjusted the pillow between her knees, he turned on the movie. “I love you,” he said.

“I love you too.” The tension eased. Annabeth tried to concentrate on the screen and let her pain fall away, but it was hard. Her hips and back were still on fire. She reached out an aching arm, and Percy got the message, taking her hand and squeezing it.

Harry and Sally were on the plane when Leo kicked open the door to the Poseidon Cabin. He had his hair pulled back like he had been in the forge, and his shirt was a little bit singed.

“Percy, have you seen… oh. I see I’ve caught you in an intimate moment.” He started to back out, sort of stunned.

“No! Leo! It’s fine, we’re decent, come in!” Annabeth yelped, desperate to avoid an accusation of impropriety.

“Oh… okay, well I forgot what I was gonna ask what with all the…stuff. Is that a movie?” Leo grinned and plopped himself down next to Annabeth. She could smell the burnt cotton. 

Soon after, Piper and Jason came looking for Leo, and then decided to catch the rest of the cheesy goodness. Piper was leaned up against Jason who had nestled himself in the corner. They were adorable. 

Annabeth was happy to have her friends near her, but their presence meant she couldn’t cry out as the pain constricted around her abdomen.

She got away with pretending to be sleeping for a while, but near the end of the movie she couldn’t take it anymore. She didn't want anyone to know, but every person has a breaking point, and this was hers. 

“Percy?” Annabeth said, voice cracking, “it hurts,” She curled up into herself a little tighter and heard someone pause the movie. She felt a hand on her thigh, not Percy’s. Piper maybe. 

“I know, I know, I’m sorry” he could feel the eyes of his friends zero in on him as he drew Annabeth closer. She yelped at the pain from the change in position because it felt like she was falling apart, but relaxed when she felt Percy hold her together. 

“Not your fault, don’t apologize,” she said once she had gotten reasonably settled. She looked up to see the eyes of her friends trained on her.

“Annabeth, are you okay? Did you get hurt during practice today?” Jason had this look in his eyes that she couldn’t quite place. She let out a sigh, and Percy could tell she didn’t need anymore convincing. He held her a little closer.

“No. It’s been like this since Tartarus. I’ve been in pain almost everyday. Not every day is this bad, but it can get pretty bad. I'm sorry. I didn’t tell you all because I didn’t want to burden you with it.” She got it all out, and then held her breath to wait for the fallout. She opened her eyes to see their stunned faces.

It was quiet for a minute. Piper was biting her lip, Jason had his head in his hands, Leo had tears shining in his eyes.

“Annabeth, you aren’t a burden. You never will be,” Piper said. There wasn’t any charmspeak in her voice, just Piper’s unconditional love.

“Of course,” Jason scooted a little closer, “how can we help?” Annabeth almost broke down into tears. 

“There isn’t much you can do,” Percy butt in, holding her just a little tighter, “just support when she needs it.” Annabeth was glad Percy spoke for her, she wasn’t sure she could have gotten it out with her voice so full of tears.

“I love you guys,” she managed to squeak. Percy kissed the top of her head. 

“We love you too, in pain or not,” Leo responded, without so much as a seconds hesitation. “Now can we finish the movie?”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked it! If you did, leave me a note! They mean everything to me :)


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